Day of comebacks at Durban U19 International Tournament

The second day of action at the Durban Under-19 International Football Tournament served up more drama with another nine goals scored and some incredible comebacks.

It was the turn of the teams in Group B at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium and there was no shortage of skill on display.

German side Stuttgart showed great fighting spirit as they fought back from two goals down to win 3-2 against Italian giants AC Milan.

That looked unlikely when Hachim Mastour got the opener for Milan and Zakaria Hamadi added a second to give them a 2-0 lead just after halftime.

But Stuttgart roared back and scored two goals in as many minutes to grab the three points, including a fine finish from Georgios Spanoudakis.

It was yet another thrilling encounter after 11 goals were scored on the opening day in Durban.

And there was more drama in the second game as the South African Under-19 side netted a late penalty to snatch a 2-2 draw against Turkish side Galatasaray.

The Turkish side bagged a first half goal through Dogan Can Davas to lead 1-0 at the break, but South Africa hit back in the second period as defender Aghmat Ceres pulled them level.

Can Davas grabbed his second of the game to put the European side back in front and it looked as though they would hold on for the win.

That was until the home side received a late penalty and Siphesihle Sangweni kept his nerve to drill home the spot-kick.

The action switches back to Group A on Friday when Glasgow Celtic and PSV Eindhoven will look to put opening round defeats behind them.

The pair meet at the second game of the day that kick-offs at 17h15 with defeat potentially ending hopes of a semifinal place.

The opening game of the day sees English giants Arsenal take on the KwaZulu-Natal Academy XI (kick-off 15h00), who were 3-2 winners over PSV in their opening match on Wednesday.

A win for either would be a giant step towards the semifinals with the South African side looking for another major scalp in this tournament.

The top two sides in each pool after the round-robin phase advance to the semifinals, with the final to be staged at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on August 8.

The Durban Under-19 International Football Tournament is in its second year and is a partnership between the South African Football Association, KwaZulu-Natal provincial government and Ethekwini Municipality.

The inaugural event was won in 2014 by Brazilian side Santos, who defeated Portuguese outfit Benfica 2-0 in the final.